Perryman, Scott: Later school year start is better for student outcomes and state economy

By Ray Perryman and Robert Scott

April 11, 2017

Photo: Cody Duty, Staff

Students line up during the first day of school at Thurgood Marshall Elementary, Monday, Aug. 26, 2013, in Houston. (Cody Duty / Houston Chronicle)

Students line up during the first day of school at Thurgood...

In the 1980s, Texas citizens were assured of a September-to-May school year. Parents found vacations easier to plan. Students had ample time to earn money for college. Teachers pursued continuing studies or a summer job.

During those long summers, our state's tourism industry flourished because a robust August - the peak month for travel - meant more revenue, meaning more jobs for Texans and higher tax receipts.

Yet our treasured summers began to erode when the Legislature changed the school calendar in 1990. By 1999, the common school start date was Aug. 16. Several of the state's largest school districts started classes on Aug. 9, one district on Aug. 2.

The Legislature reversed this erosion in 2006, adopting Texas' fourth-Monday law. It mandates public schools not to resume classes before the fourth Monday in August. This year, that is Aug. 28.

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Outlook

The Perryman Group determined last month that for each week the school year is moved earlier, the cost to Texas would be about $300 million in direct tourism spending, translating into $1.01 billion in total spending that is lost. Each lost week means the equivalent of 7,506 full-time lost jobs. The Perryman Group estimates that moving the school start date one week earlier would lead to annual losses to the state of $562.1 million - $124.2 million over a biennium and almost $24 million annually to local governments.

School districts should be aware of the travel industry's impact on their property tax revenues. The increased tax from travel-related real estate assets adds $675 million in revenue to Texas ISD coffers, the Perryman Group found in a 2016 economic study.

The fourth-Monday law also means K-12 and higher-education calendars are better-aligned, allowing teachers and high school students to attend both semesters of college summer school.

This is not just about economics. Starting earlier with no more classroom instruction does not lead to better outcomes. Most research indicates it is the use of time that affects student performance. Schools could intensify work after spring testing, when instruction sometimes goes slack. Schools also might strengthen the bridge to the following fall by increasing use of online summer learning.

Targeted interventions for students and professional development for teachers have shown higher success on improving student outcomes. The reading and math academies as well as the student success initiative have not been sufficiently funded to produce the results we need.

Andrew Kim, superintendent of the fast-growing, 22,000-pupil Comal ISD, practices these approaches. Comal's 2017-18 school year will begin Aug. 29. Experimenting with earlier starts is especially sensitive with parents, Kim says. "Our parents like the time we start. They like to have time off with their kids in summer." Much more is gained in student performance by attending to fundamentals like teacher development and collaboration, he adds.

Proponents of earlier start dates might consider lengthening the school day. The Texas Education Code requires 75,600 minutes, or 180 days of instruction. Educators could lengthen the school day by 10, 15 or 30 minutes to make more innovative use of classroom time while shortening and better balancing semesters.

Pressure for earlier start dates come from proponents of the District of Innovation (DOI) law, which allows "innovative" schools to claim exemption to the Texas Education Code.

We take notice of House Bill 1865, bipartisan legislation authored by Reps. Matt Krause, R-Fort Worth, and Ryan Guillen, D-Rio Grande City, which would prohibit schools from beginning instruction before Labor Day. It would also bar instruction beyond Memorial Day and eliminates the exemption from the current fourth Monday in August start date to DOI schools. For many such districts, an earlier school start is just one of a handful, if not the only innovation, they have chosen to pursue from 67 possibilities.